


impossibilities

by daughterofrohan



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy, idk how else to tag this tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 15:27:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7763197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daughterofrohan/pseuds/daughterofrohan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“But this is fun!” Darcy says with a smile, looking around at the assembly of women. “Okay, raise your hand if there’s any possibility that you’re pregnant.”<br/>Slowly, with the exception of Natasha, every hand goes up. <br/>“Right,” Darcy says. “Well, that doesn’t help at all, actually.”</p>
<p>// Originally a tumblr prompt that got out of control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	impossibilities

Natasha’s phone rings when she’s in debrief with Maria Hill. She flashes the display in her superior’s direction. Pepper.

“Put her on speaker,” Maria says.

“Hey Pepper.” Natasha holds the phone out over Hill’s desk, using her thumb to turn up the volume of the speaker.

“Nat!” Pepper sounds frantic on the other end of the line. “Thank God!”

“Is there a situation?” Natasha responds calmly.

“Nothing like that,” Pepper says. “It’s just…I think I might be pregnant and-”

“ _Pregnant_?” Maria interrupts.

Natasha laughs. “I hope you weren’t expecting me to keep a secret.”

“Of course not,” Pepper responds lightly. “I know all too well that all you at SHIELD are wonderful at keeping secrets from the rest of the world and terrible at keeping them from each other. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you’d come with me to get a pregnancy test whenever you get off? I _really_ don’t want to go alone and I’d ask Tony but…well…you know.”

“Absolutely. Just wait for me to get out of debrief and then-”

“Debrief’s over,” says Maria. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” Natasha says slowly. “You…?”

“Are you kidding me?” Hill smiles at her across the desk. “I’m not missing out on this.”

“Pepper,” Natasha says quickly before the other woman can hang up. “Do me a favour and call Jane and Darcy. They’re all about shit like this.”

* * *

Pepper, Jane, and Darcy are waiting outside when Natasha pulls up to the Avengers tower with Maria in the passenger seat. She can’t help but smile a little at the hilarity of it all as she says, “Get in ladies.”

“Ow!” Darcy exclaims as the three pile into the back seat. “Jane!”

“It’s not my fault you can’t enter a car like a normal person!”

“Enough,” Maria says, but her smile betrays her.

“Everyone has to take one!” Darcy announces as soon as they locate the aisle in the drug store that houses the pregnancy tests.

“Darcy,” Jane moans. “For the fifth, and final time, I would _tell_ you if I was pregnant. You’re my best friend.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Darcy says, grabbing a handful of boxes and handing one to Pepper. “It’s fun!”

Maria shrugs and accepts her test, as does Jane. “Natasha?” Darcy dangles the last box in front of Natasha’s face.

“I already know what it’s going to say,” Natasha responds, inexplicably managing to keep her voice steady. Maria catches her eye and they exchange a knowing look.“

It doesn’t matter,” Darcy repeats. “We’re just doing it to support Pepper.”

Natasha glares at her, but accepts the test.

“First!” Darcy announces as soon as they step out of the elevator in the tower, making a beeline for the bathroom.

Jane sighs dramatically. “She’s having way too much fun with this.”

Pepper takes a turn next, followed by Maria. Natasha tosses her test unceremoniously on the ground when she emerges from the bathroom, making her way to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. “Negative.”

“Did you even look at it?” Darcy asks her.

“No,” she says darkly. “But I know that it’s negative.”

“Pepper.” Maria’s voice draws everyone’s attention and they look over to see her bent over the table beside the couch, confusion etched across her face. “Did I put mine on the left or the right?”

“I think mine was on the left,” Pepper says, a trace of worry in her voice.

“That was mine,” Jane says, pointing at the test Pepper just claimed as her own. “Yours is over there.”

“No, that’s mine,” Natasha says, staring at the discarded test on the carpet.

“But it’s positive!” Darcy exclaims excitedly, turning it over. “Anyways, I saw you put yours over there.”

Natasha follows Darcy’s finger with her eyes but all she sees is Jane with two tests in her hands, staring at them both in confusion. “Shoot, guys. We really messed up.”

“Okay.” Maria picks up the test on the ground and places it on the table beside the other two. “Jane, bring those two here. This can’t be _that_ hard.”

It turns out that it is, in fact, that hard.

“ _Three_ positives.”

“We can all see that, Darcy,” Jane moans.

“But this is _fun!_ ” Darcy says with a smile, looking around at the assembly of women. “Okay, raise your hand if there’s any possibility that you’re pregnant.”

Slowly, with the exception of Natasha, every hand goes up.

“Right,” Darcy says. “Well, that doesn’t help at all, actually.”

“There’s no way we’re going to figure this out by staring at these,” Jane says matter-of-factly.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Maria asks her.

“Back to the store!” Darcy announces cheerfully.

When the five women finally return to the tower with a second round of pregnancy tests, Darcy attempts to make a beeline for the bathroom once again but is stopped by a stern look from Maria Hill. “Nobody lets go of their test this time, got it? _Nobody_.”

“Nobody look,” Darcy adds. “I want everyone to turn them over at the same time.”

Jane rolls her eyes and heads for the bathroom.

“Okay,” Natasha says once they’re sitting in a circle, pregnancy tests placed face-down in front of them. “Pepper, this entire thing is indirectly your fault. You start.”

“This is like roulette,” Maria offers, eliciting a small smile from Natasha.

Pepper takes a deep breath and slowly reveals the front of her test; two pink lines intersecting to make a plus sign. “I’m…I’m pregnant.”

“Congratulations!” Jane and Darcy squeal together.

“I hope it gets all your genes and none of Stark’s,” Natasha says, reaching over to pat her friend on the arm.

“You’re next,” Pepper tells her, but Natasha shakes her head, nodding in Maria’s direction.

“Thank God,” Maria says as she turns over her negative test. “Not sure how I would have explained that one to Fury.”

“Jane!” Darcy exclaims as her friend flips up the second positive test. “You said you would _tell_ me if-”

“I didn’t know!” Jane protests.

“Oh my _God!_ ” Darcy continues, unperturbed. “You’re having a _baby_. Oh my God.”

“Go,” Jane laughs, gesturing towards Darcy’s test.

Darcy glances at her test before flipping it up dramatically. “It’s a…negative!”

A hush falls over the room as all eyes turn to Natasha where she sits quietly, her own eyes glued to her upside-down pregnancy test sitting on the carpet in front of her.

“There were three positives,” Maria points out.

“Maybe it was a mistake.” Natasha still won’t look up, but her voice is hoarse, unsure, unlike anything they’ve come to expect from her. “I can’t be-” _pregnant_. She doesn’t even want to say the word, doesn’t even want to admit that it’s a possibility. “It’s not possible.”

“Apparently,” Darcy says, snatching Natasha’s test off the ground and turning it over, “it is.”

“Oh my God,” Pepper breathes. “Nat.”

“No,” she shakes her head, hoping her expression isn’t as frantic as she feels. “You don’t understand, I _can’t-_ ”

“Natasha,” Maria interrupts sternly.Natasha rises to her feet, snatching the pregnancy test out of Darcy’s hand, conscious of the fact that every single eye in the room is on her. “I have to go.”

* * *

 

“You haven’t said _anything_ to Clint?” Bruce asks as he tinkers with the ultrasound machine. “Natasha, are you-”

“I just want to be sure,” she says quietly. “You know how he is. Besides, he’s in Europe for another week.”

“And what about you?” Bruce asks in the gentle, comforting way of his. It’s the reason Natasha – and any of the Avengers, really – have always been more comfortable coming to see Bruce than having their problems taken care of by SHIELD medical.

“What about me?” Natasha asks, confused.

“Are you okay?”

She sighs deeply, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, Bruce. I guess I just…I never thought this was a possibility, so I never bothered to think how I’d feel if I…if we…” she trails off, unsure of what to say.

“It’s a baby,” Bruce confirms, turning the screen of his monitor to show Natasha. All she can make out is a small, greyish clump amongst the black of the screen, but she trusts Bruce. “You’re pregnant,” he tells her.

Natasha winces visibly. “Do you mind not using that word?”

“It’s not a bad thing, Natasha,” Bruce says softly. “I know that maybe they told you something different in Russia, but they were wrong. You’re the same person you were before. Wanting this doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.”

“And if I don’t want it?”

“That’s for you to decide.”

“Thank you, Bruce,” she says quietly, slipping her arms back into her jacket, the weight of the pregnancy test feeling impossibly heavy in her pocket.

“Natasha!” he calls as she turns to leave. “You know I’m here, right? No matter what you need?”

“Yeah.” Her hand trembles ever so slightly against the door. “I know.”

* * *

 

“Hey Nat.” Clint’s voice on the other end of the phone; calm, collected, untroubled, is more of a comfort than Natasha ever imagined it could be, and she resists the sudden urge to break down sobbing.

“How’s Austria?” she asks instead.

“Beautiful,” he breathes, and she can hear the excitement in his voice. “I wish you could be here.”

“Remind me when you’re coming home.”

“Is something wrong?” Worry colours his voice.

“No, I just-”

“Natasha.” It gets through to her the way nothing else could, the way he says her name, pierces a hole right through her chest into her aching heart.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurts out.

“ _No_ ,” he breathes. “Nat, that’s not…you can’t…I thought-”

“So did I,” she interrupts. “Clint, I’m scared.” It’s barely a whisper, this confession that slips past her lips like a secret she’s been keeping for far too long. She wants to collapse against him, wants to feel his arms around her like a shield. None of the countless oceans between them has ever felt as alienating as this one does now.

Clint’s mind is reeling. He doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know what to tell her, doesn’t know why the hell he’s in Austria while she’s back in New York dealing with this on her own.

“I’m coming home,” he hears himself say.

“No, you’re not.”

“Nat, you shouldn’t have to go through this on your own. I should be there. _God_ , I can’t believe I’m not there.”

“I’m not letting you jeopardize your mission because of me.” Her tone is firm, offering no room for argument. “Get the intel you need, do what you went there to do, and then come home. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“See you in a week,” she says quietly, and the irony of the fact that she’s now the one consoling him is not lost on her. But it’s always been like this, with the two of them. They’ve always been stronger in their weakest moments.

“See you.” The line clicks dead and Natasha takes a deep breath, lowering the phone from her ear.She does the math in her head; Clint left for Austria a little over three weeks ago. _Three weeks_. She wonders how long it would have taken her to figure it out, had it not been for Pepper.

Desperate for something else to think about, Natasha pours herself a glass of wine. It’s halfway to her lips before she remembers something she once heard about pregnant women and alcohol. She shrugs and downs the glass anyways.

* * *

 

It’s two in the morning when Natasha feels a weight drop onto the mattress beside her. She makes a small noise of discontentment, rolling over to stare into Clint’s eyes. “You’re late.”

His hand skims along her side before coming to rest at her waist. “Sorry.” His voice is barely above a whisper. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Couldn’t sleep anyways.”

“How are you doing? Be honest?”

“I…” she hesitates, her eyes flicking away before finding his gaze again. “I think I’m okay.”

“Respectfully, Natasha, really respectfully, I call bullshit.”

Everything in her seems to deflate as her eyes fill with the kind of vulnerability that she’ll only show when they’re alone. “What are we supposed to do, Clint?”

“I don’t know,” he confesses. “But can we forget about it for one more night?”

She nods, silent, as he gathers her into his arms, pressing his lips briefly to her forehead before pulling her closer. She buries her face in his shoulder and if he feels her tears seeping through his shirt he doesn’t mention it, letting her fall into a fitful sleep.

* * *

 

Natasha wakes to empty, rumpled sheets beside her, the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. She rolls out of bed, pulling on Clint’s discarded hoodie as she makes her way out of the bedroom. He’s there when she enters the kitchen, offering her a mug. She moves to take it and then pauses, unsure.

“I read something about…about not having any caffeine when you’re…”

Clint waves a hand dismissively. “Most of that stuff is a myth. Does this mean that you’re…that we’re…”

She smiles shyly, a light in the dimness of the early morning. “You’re going to make a good father, Clint.”

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi @natrasharomanova


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